TORONTO—Due to the significant public health risks posed by the imminent expansion of penned dog hunting in Ontario, Animal Justice and Coyote Watch Canada have filed a formal application seeking legislative review under Ontario’s Environmental Bill of Rights (EBR).
Letting dogs loose in fenced areas to hunt down captive wild animals is banned everywhere else in Canada and most US states. But at the start of October, Ontario started accepting applications from new operators hoping to set up shop—even if they aren’t from Canada. The move comes after the Ford government reversed a 1997 law banning the creation of new pens, aimed at a total phase-out.
Extremist hunting lobbyists misled lawmakers to undo the phase-out, soft-peddling the brutality the so-called “sport” inflicts on dogs forced to compete, and captive coyotes, foxes, and rabbits used as bait. Last year Animal Justice went undercover at one of Ontario’s remaining dog hunting pens. Participants were clear that dogs regularly catch, maim, and kill coyotes throughout the season.
In addition to the suffering of terrified captive wild animals, the dangers posed by penned hunting include the possible transmission of rabies and Echinococcus multilocularis—a tapeworm that can cause potentially deadly tumors in humans. While once exclusively confined to the Arctic, the dangerous parasite infects roughly a quarter of coyotes in Ontario, and is also present in other provinces where it was previously absent.
The EBR gives Ontarians the right to request a review when a law or policy needs improvement to protect the environment. Animal Justice and Coyote Watch Canada are calling on the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry to review—and at minimum revoke—the new provisions, and ideally shutter all remaining pens.
“There is a reason penned hunting is banned everywhere else in Canada. Allowing this practice to expand in Ontario poses serious public health risks, including the spread of dangerous diseases,” said lawyer and Animal Justice executive director Camille Labchuk. “Chasing wild animals in penned enclosures is a cruel bloodsport that has no place in Ontario today. Through this application for a legislative review under the EBR we hope the Ministry will finally consider the very real risks involved, and put a stop to this barbaric pastime.”
“Train and trial penning involves abducting and cruelly confining wildlife in unnatural conditions for financial gain,” said Lesley Sampson, executive director of Coyote Watch Canada. “Coyotes and foxes are chased, maimed, and sometimes killed by dogs during penned training contests, creating significant risks for the spread of diseases and grave suffering. It is absolutely reckless to expand this abhorrent pastime that puts both wildlife and public health at risk.”
You can read Animal Justice and Coyote Watch Canada’s full submission here
To arrange interviews or for more information, contact:
Josh Lynn
Public Relations Manager
[email protected]
Camille Labchuk
Executive Director
[email protected]
Lesley Sampson
Executive Director, Coyote Watch Canada
[email protected]
